Empowered Women Empower

As March is Women's History Month, it's only appropriate that I find the time to encourage my female audience to learn from each other, inspire each other, and teach one another.

In the age of social media, it's inevitable (especially for younger generations) that women compare their own lives to the lives of the people they follow on Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn in regards to professional growth. This behavior only drives unhealthy competition between the female community—I would rather encourage women to view social media as a place to positively impact others, and show life as it is; unfiltered and raw.

How nice would it be to wake up and see something that was real, funny, and made you feel alive; rather than something that causes you to compare your appearance and wealth? This starts with each of us—showing the authentic lives we lead—not the, 'let me know you how much better my life is than yours,' life that we're rarely ever living. Women have always been change-makers and it should be no different here.

In many ways, I find social media to be extremely helpful in building both personal and professional brands; however, we need to be conscious of the fact that building yourself up does not mean knocking someone else down. When I post anything on my accounts—whether social or news—my top thoughts are, 'who will this inspire and will it teach them what to do next?'

I personally believe that some women simply don't know how to get where they want to go, so why not take what I've learned and help to show them how to reach their goals, rather than to post photos of how great it is at the top? If I were to do that, it only serves my personal ego and does literally nothing for anything or anyone else. We're all on the same team. The worst team member is the one on the sidelines looking at herself in the mirror.

There's a quote that says, "Be the woman who fixes another woman's crown, without telling the world it was ever crooked."

Although not a massive fan of the 'crown' analogy, this message is spot on. Too often I find that the female community struggles to genuinely help each other—there are not limited positions available for greatness. We don't need to fight each other off for this one position of 'top woman.' It's about keeping the gas tanks filled for those who will truly put the work in to be great. Hard working, driven women are going to get knocked down. I, for one, will be there to pick them up and encourage them to move forward and keep going.

It's important to remember that when a woman is doing well or accomplishes something amazing, it's a win for our community everywhere. And that is something to be really, really proud of.

I challenge my female audience to start thinking of ways you can empower another woman in your life throughout this month and continue to do so in the future. We move forward together, or not at all.

In honor of this post and in an effort to further empower this audience, I've mentioned a few women that have (and continue to) inspire me on a regular basis below—hopefully, you can get the same level of motivation from them as I do.

Linda McMahon

I met Linda at a group event where she was a guest speaker and highlight of the event. My path being what it is, I immediately felt the similarity between us by just being in her presence. She has struggled, she has overcome, and she didn't need to tell anyone about it. She just 'got it.' In my personal conversation with her, she was humble and genuinely interested in learning about myself and my business; but the most striking thing about her was that even though the event was all about her, she masterfully made it about everyone else. That's a woman with the right motivations.

Michelle Malkin

Although most typically thought of politically, I've admired Michelle Malkin for many years for reasons that have nothing to do with her political preferences. She says what she means, and means what she says, and in no way makes black and white factual information more palatable to fit a select audience. She's unapologetic about her voice and I believe more women could benefit from taking a similar position. Oftentimes, we overthink our actions and words to the extent that we commonly don't even leave the starting block. I've taken away from her many points of media that you don't have to be the smartest person in the room, but if you want respect, you better be the most educated and the most prepared. When it's your time to shine, be ready with a million bulbs.

Georgette Mosbacher

I've included Georgette not necessarily because I follow her closely today, but rather because she was one of the first women to inspire me. I read her book "Feminine Force" at a very young age and vividly recall feeling empowered in understanding confidence. Most people believe that confidence comes from things you have done and therefore feel confident that you can do them again. In reality, confidence comes from a belief in yourself. I am regularly accused of being extremely confident and I believe it is due to Georgette's sharing of her own life story that struck a chord with me in understanding that I can truly do anything.

The Every-Woman

Truth be told, I'm far more challenged to come up with a famous person who inspires me than to identify countless inspirational women that I encounter every day that likely don't have their own biography written. The young girl at my grocery store who is paying for her own way through college; the single mother working at my nail salon making ends meet while taking night classes; the parking attendant at my coffee place that while working her second job talks to her aging mother on her headset; my friend who sacrificed a career and moving to the middle of nowhere to ensure her children grew up knowing what matters most in life. For the most part, I know the tiniest things about these women's lives, yet they humble me every time I'm in their presence. They remind of what is truly important; service, compassion, hard work, and paying-it-forward.

You can learn more about my company at www.GoByTruck.com.